Essayist, critic (27 July 1954,
Erzurum). He also used the pen name “Şehrî”. He completed his primary,
elementary and high school education in Erzurum and graduated from Marmara
University, Faculty of Education. He worked as a teacher of Turkish and
literature and lecturer at high schools and Marmara University. He resigned in
1987 and has worked in private institutions and organizations as a manager in
the areas of public relations, administration and publication promotion since
then. He undertook the post of manager of publications at Dünya Books in 2002.
He is still working as a general coordinator in an organization that gives
service in education and health.
His connection
with literature and painting started during his elementary school days. He
focused on his literature research after 1980. His first article (Klasik Rus Edebiyatının Kurucusu: Puşkin,
The Founder of Classical Russian Literature: Pushkin) was published in the
review Yazko-Somut in 1983. His other
research, critiques and essays have been published in reviews and newspapers
such as Yazko Somut, Yazko Edebiyat, Yeni
Düşün, Martı, Broy, Milliyet Sanat, Çağdaş Türk Dili, Gergedan, Şehir, Varlık,
Adam Sanat, Kavram, Gösteri, Edebiyat ve Eleştiri, Yeni Biçem, Adam Öykü, Özgür
Gündem, Cumhuriyet, Yeni Yüzyıl and
Evrensel.
He won the first award of the Akademi
Book House Critique-Essay Awards in 1987 with his work Gerçekçilik Yolunda (On the Way to Reality, 1989), the Abdi İpekçi
Peace and Friendship Award in 1994 with his essay Işık Ol Günüme Ağ (Be
a Light and Rise to My Day), the first prize of the PEN Onat Kutlar Interview
Award with his interview with Necati Cumalı with the name Yazıya Adanmış Bir
Ömrün Tanıklığında (On the Testimony of a Life Dedicated to Writing) and
came third at the Haldun Taner Short Story Award in 2002 with the story Gönlümün
Yitik Yurdunda (In the Lost Country of my Heart). He has represented Turkey
at many congresses abroad and in Turkey. He worked as an editor-in-chief of
reviews such as Ekonomide Dayanışma (1987-89),
Yayın Dünyası (1989-90) and TYS Edebiyat (1994). He is a member of
the Turkish Writers Syndicate of Turkey, the Turkish Authors Association, the
PEN Writers Association and the Language Association.
WORKS:
RESEARCH-CRITICISM: Gerçeklik Yolunda (On the Way to
Reality, 1989), Yazınsal Gerçekliğin
Boyutları (The Dimensions of Literary Reality, 1996), Öykücünün El Kitabı (Handbook of the Story Writer, 1999), Edebiyatımızın Yol Haritası (The Road
Map of Our Literature, 2000).
ESSAY: Işık Ol Günüme Ağ (Be a Light and Rise
to My Day, 1998), Söz Uçları, Yazı
Burçları (Peaks of Word, Towers of Writing, 1998), Aynanın Arkası (Behind the Mirror, 2002), Yazarın
Kitabı (The Writer’s Book, 2004).
SELECTION: Sürgün Edebiyatı / Edebiyat Sürgünleri (The Literature of Exile /
Exiles of Literature, 1996).
INTERVIEW: Söz Uçar Yazı Kalır (Spoken Things Disappear, Written Things Remain, 1996), Adalet Ağaoğlu Kitabı (The Book of Adalet Ağaoğlu, 2000), Türkân Şoray ile Yüz Yüze: Gözlerinden
Bellidir (Face to Face with Türkan Şoray: It is Written in Your Eyes, 2000), Yaşar Kemal’in
Sözlerinde Yaşamak (Living in the Words of Yaşar Kemal, 2003), Edebiyatımızın
Kadınları (Women of Our
Literature, 2004).